B.C. city to take Trans Mountain pipeline fight to Supreme Court of Canada

The City of Burnaby is turning to Canada’s highest court in the dispute over construction of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline.

Mayor Derek Corrigan says the city intends to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to consider a lower court decision that denied Burnaby leave to appeal a ruling by the National Energy Board.

That ruling allowed Kinder Morgan to bypass local bylaws during construction of the pipeline expansion, which will triple the amount of diluted bitumen and other oil products moving between the Edmonton-area and port facilities in Burnaby.

Corrigan says the city has asked its legal counsel to file the appeal application within 60 days.

He says in a news release that the Federal Court of Appeal did not give consideration to arguments made by Burnaby and the provincial government.

The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Burnaby’s application without reasons, but Corrigan says the judges should have explained why the provincial government was not being allowed to protect B.C.’s environmental interests.